ASHEVILLE, NC — Interested in producing your own food and shelter as a means to slash those ever-rising bills? Find out how at Asheville’s first Mother Earth News Fair.

The event takes place April 12-13 at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Road in Fletcher. The Fair runs 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend this family-friendly event. There will be 10 stages dedicated to producing and preparing real food, green building, natural health, homesteading and more, with 200 hands-on workshops on everything from making cheese to building your own solar panels. The goal is to enable all attendees – from self-sufficiency veterans to those who are curious about small changes they can make – to take what they learn and apply it at home. Nationally known experts including Joel Salatin will provide insight on broader sustainability issues.

Nationally known keynote speakers will offer attendees perspective on broader sustainability issues, including:

• Organic farmer and author Joel Salatin will identify modern society’s orthodoxies, explain the ‘heresy antidote’ and offer ways to chart a different path for integrity living. Salatin’s Polyface Farm was featured in the documentary Food Inc.

• Sandor Katz, a fermentation expert, will give an overview of the history of fermentation throughout the world, as well as share how to use fermentation techniques today for flavorful, healthy food. Katz authored The Art of Fermentation and Wild Fermentation.

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds founder Jere Gettle will show how to grow heirloom varieties and save your own seed. Baker Creek now sells the largest selection of rare, heirloom varieties in the United States.

• Sylvia Bernstein will discuss how to start an aquaponics system, raising fish with organic vegetables, greens, herbs and fruits. Bernstein wrote Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together and is president of The Aquaponics Source.

• Once a beehive has completed its first winter, Bee Culture Editor Kim Flottum will show how to harness that energy all spring and summer so both the bees and the beekeeper benefit.

• Stephanie Tourles, author, herbalist and licensed holistic aesthetician will offer 150 recipes for effective homemade herbal remedies to treat a wide range of conditions, from headaches to arthritis, tendonitis, fungal infections, anxiety, cuts and scrapes, insomnia, and cracked skin.

More than 200 hands-on workshops will cover organic gardening, preparing and preserving food, renewable energy, small-scale livestock, green building, natural health, green transportation, and related topics. Sustainable and rural lifestyle experts from across the country will lead the sessions.

In addition to workshops, the Fair will host children’s activities; an alternative fuel vehicle display; country skills, vendor and livestock demonstrations; and local and organic food options.

Adult tickets cost $25 for the weekend or $20 for a one-day pass in advance, or $30 and $25, respectively, at the gate. Children under 17 get in free. To purchase advance tickets, visit www.MotherEarthNewsFair.com or call toll-free 800-234-3368.

Mother Earth News Fair sponsors include Blue Ridge Naturally, Botanical Interests, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, Coconut Bliss, Deltec Homes, Earthineer, Farm Credit Association of North Carolina, Ford Motor Co., Ingles Markets, John C. Campbell Folk School, Kapstone Farm, King Bio, Nature’s Flavors, Premier 1, Purina, Selina Naturally, Sundance Power and Theo Chocolate.

Mother Earth News covers organic gardening, cooking and food preservation, natural health, do-it-yourself projects, renewable energy, and all aspects of rural and urban homesteading.